Questions about plastic rail from a newbie

There's quite a few custom / modified and improved models here, for anyone who hasn't seen this site before https://www.flickr.com/groups/1753030@N21/

Plarail makes real trains and THomas trains, and they run on blue track which is only available in Japan. Trackmaster is Thomas only, and it's available anywhere besides Japan

I disagree with you, they sell the blue track all over the world under the Tomy brand, I bought the hyper city stater set from a shop in England, so it's not Japan exclusive, although you don't get the full catalogue range, wheras in Japan it's a big thing and there are a huge number of home market specials,

Everything plarail related in England is second-hand or is from a reseller; the only place where it's sold by the manufacturers themselves is Japan

Afternoon all and thanks for the replies so far! Very informative.

So! Good news. I got my stuff through the post on Monday and put the layour together with the future Mrs. Gipping in the sitting room of the London house. Had a funwhile trying to figure out how to use every piece possible (including the risers etc) and made a nice loop with a passing circle.

I have mixed feelings on the two locomotives I've bought so far. One of them, a 1997 Black diesel shunter (modeled afterna 08 it seems to me!) works very well. Takes a C cell battery and happily pulls all of the waggons I have so far. Had a lot of fun with this guy.

   
Diesel Easily pulls a train of six wagons over a hump without trouble

I'm thinking now about the best way to 'deface' him - I'm thinking hacksaw or sand the face and then replace with what - modeling card? A wire mesh? I seem to recall having some of that in my model making box when I was young but damned if I'd know where to get it now.

Less impressed with the Yellow locomotive, Murdock. When I recieved him and put a new battery in, he wasn't even capable of propelling himself at anything more than a snails pace. Add a single truck and he was stationary.

Anyway, took the tender apart assuming the gears had become fouled (turns out the unit is sealed, and without a workbench to hand at the time I wasn't going to crack it open on the sitting room floor) andI could find nothing wrong. Put it back together again later and tried it running, and it seemed to have fixed itself! No idea what was wrong and how I fixed it, but there you go.

   
Murdock's Guts

That said, it still isn't great. The motor is in the tender (much like a Hornby steam), however with the amount of play you have in these kids' models, it doesn't seem to like pushing all that much - the 'Engine' which is pushed seems to like derailing itself on corners and goes all over the place. Considering I'm buying these to having running around the garden on summer days that's a hassle I can't be bothered with (especially if I'm sinking inaccessible tunnels). Is this everyone's experience with tendered engines? Am I doing something wrong? Are there any engines which are run from the body rather than the tender?

   
Murdock pulls five wagons, only to derail himself later

Definately need to buy more track. Have just enough to make a fun little layout in the sitting room - but I'm astounded at how much it's going for online. I'm going to have to start trawling charity shops.

Had a little fun this morning (my day off work!). It occured to me the little risers the track came with would be great to emulate a prototypical 'hump' shunting yard. I took a little video - can you upload those here? I'd rather not fill up my youtube account (which I use for work) with model train videos...

   
Bouns: cats don't like trains. The kitten finally got up the bravery to savage this poor train...

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There's quite a few custom / modified and improved models here, for anyone who hasn't seen this site before https://www.flickr.com/groups/1753030@N21/

Excellent link! These are exactly where I want to go for in my modifications. Any adive on this welcome in terms of which paints to use (close enough to the right colour but durable enough to handle being played with), how best to modify the bodies etc.

British Rail Tank
https://flic.kr/p/qxKfuy

LNER 'Flying Scotsman' (I presume)
https://flic.kr/p/qf67iV

BR Class 28 - I presume this is a modified BOCO? Would love to do it with BR headcode discs.
https://flic.kr/p/fxySkq

BR Diesel in Green - I presume this is meant to be a 21/23? Which model is this based on? I'll have to buy one.
https://flic.kr/p/pA129v

BR 08 in Black (these were built by LMS, weren't they?) - exactly what I want to achieve with my diesel
https://flic.kr/p/p8NtSi

Here's a pic of my Trackmaster shunter.
I used a dremel tool, to scrub the face (which creates quite a bit of dust) then I cut the radiator grille off a badly damaged, OO gauge 08 and glued it in place on to this model https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N02/15671649933/

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The "Warship" model is a bit tricky, as you have to cut two bodies in half and then put loads of filler to fill in the roof space https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N...ERP-9wGato

Some of the Hornby OO gauge wagon bodies will, surprisingly, fit the Plarail chassis, with very little modification    

I have neither Murdock or diesel, so I cant really comment, I've never been a fan of tender driven engines, they don't work with the auto changing points and I cannonly imagine they derail more, as these trains dont really like to push stock.

I've never defaced a diesel before but salty was simple, disassemble, cut off the melted tabs that locate the face, pull the face off, paint the aperture a dark color, then glue in the grill



I used ventilation mesh kindly donated by my patio door, ( it opened to a conservatory) I also thought tea strainer mesh would do, or sieve mesh,

Bouns: cats don't like trains. The kitten finally got up the bravery to savage this poor train...

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That was one CATastrophic disaster ! You can check the Craig List for cheap Trackmaster items. majority of the items I own comes from Craig's List. My advice is try to avoid buying the motorize trackmaster units from Craig's List. majority of the time the engines don't work.

Personally, I prefer the engine powered by the tender than the other type. The reason being the wires can break off easily from the front end of the cab to the tender.

[HankAmericanEngine]

Howdy George Gipping!

Tender powered engines, like Murdoch, are hard to come by in very good condition; that could possibly explain the stuttering that happens. I personally recommend running each engine every few weeks, as the lubricant inside the motor can harden and prevent optimal operation.

As for the derailing, the locomotive himself might just be a bit too light; that is one cause for consistent derailment for these engines who receive their motion from a powered car or tender.

Afternoon all and thanks for the replies so far! Very informative.

So! Good news. I got my stuff through the post on Monday and put the layour together with the future Mrs. Gipping in the sitting room of the London house. Had a funwhile trying to figure out how to use every piece possible (including the risers etc) and made a nice loop with a passing circle.

I have mixed feelings on the two locomotives I've bought so far. One of them, a 1997 Black diesel shunter (modeled afterna 08 it seems to me!) works very well. Takes a C cell battery and happily pulls all of the waggons I have so far. Had a lot of fun with this guy.


Diesel Easily pulls a train of six wagons over a hump without trouble

I'm thinking now about the best way to 'deface' him - I'm thinking hacksaw or sand the face and then replace with what - modeling card? A wire mesh? I seem to recall having some of that in my model making box when I was young but damned if I'd know where to get it now.

Less impressed with the Yellow locomotive, Murdock. When I recieved him and put a new battery in, he wasn't even capable of propelling himself at anything more than a snails pace. Add a single truck and he was stationary.

Anyway, took the tender apart assuming the gears had become fouled (turns out the unit is sealed, and without a workbench to hand at the time I wasn't going to crack it open on the sitting room floor) andI could find nothing wrong. Put it back together again later and tried it running, and it seemed to have fixed itself! No idea what was wrong and how I fixed it, but there you go.


Murdock's Guts

That said, it still isn't great. The motor is in the tender (much like a Hornby steam), however with the amount of play you have in these kids' models, it doesn't seem to like pushing all that much - the 'Engine' which is pushed seems to like derailing itself on corners and goes all over the place. Considering I'm buying these to having running around the garden on summer days that's a hassle I can't be bothered with (especially if I'm sinking inaccessible tunnels). Is this everyone's experience with tendered engines? Am I doing something wrong? Are there any engines which are run from the body rather than the tender?


Murdock pulls five wagons, only to derail himself later

Definately need to buy more track. Have just enough to make a fun little layout in the sitting room - but I'm astounded at how much it's going for online. I'm going to have to start trawling charity shops.

Had a little fun this morning (my day off work!). It occured to me the little risers the track came with would be great to emulate a prototypical 'hump' shunting yard. I took a little video - can you upload those here? I'd rather not fill up my youtube account (which I use for work) with model train videos...


Bouns: cats don't like trains. The kitten finally got up the bravery to savage this poor train...

---

There's quite a few custom / modified and improved models here, for anyone who hasn't seen this site before https://www.flickr.com/groups/1753030@N21/

Excellent link! These are exactly where I want to go for in my modifications. Any adive on this welcome in terms of which paints to use (close enough to the right colour but durable enough to handle being played with), how best to modify the bodies etc.

British Rail Tank
https://flic.kr/p/qxKfuy

LNER 'Flying Scotsman' (I presume)
https://flic.kr/p/qf67iV

BR Class 28 - I presume this is a modified BOCO? Would love to do it with BR headcode discs.
https://flic.kr/p/fxySkq

BR Diesel in Green - I presume this is meant to be a 21/23? Which model is this based on? I'll have to buy one.
https://flic.kr/p/pA129v

BR 08 in Black (these were built by LMS, weren't they?) - exactly what I want to achieve with my diesel
https://flic.kr/p/p8NtSi

Most of the Thomas tender engines are loco-driven, so Murdoch's issue should be a one-time thing hopefully.

Also, unrelated, but if you're looking for extra rolling stock, Trackmaster does some 3-packs of trucks. They come with loads, and the loads can build some cool accessories. The "Dockside Delivery Crane" pack, for example, comes with three open trucks and the parts to build a nice little track-side crane if you're interested in that kind of thing.

[Ucwepn]

I had issues with my Murdoch at the start but removing all the loco weights (not in the tender though) certainly helps it get along slightly better. I would steer clear of the new trackmaster stuff that came out last year, it doesn't run well on the brown track as the locos don't have rubber tires. Great value can certainly be had buying up job lots on ebay but remember you will be competing with resellers who also buy bulk lots to resell individually.